Quiet in the Library
by Ari 347
Summary: Teddy has been pining over Victoire for years, but she won't give him the time of day. A chance meeting in the library may change that. Written for QLFC Round 13


Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Position: Chaser 1

Prompt: Write a story with no dialogue

Optional Prompts: (1) Hogwarts' library (6) collection (13) stranger

Word Count: 1416

Beta'd by: Queen Bookworm the First

 **A/N:** This is operating off the assumption that Teddy and Victoire are 2 years apart. According to Pottermore, Teddy was born in 1998 and Victoire...sometime afterwards, probably 2001 at the latest. For this story, I'm going to go with a two year age difference. Enjoy!

 **HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP**

Taking a deep breath, Teddy sat down at a corner table in the Hogwarts Library. He may have been Sorted into Hufflepuff, but if his grades dropped by too much his grandmother and Harry would murder him. Well, maybe not literally murder him, but certainly something very close to it. The Hufflepuff common room was too noisy for him to study, so here he was, in the library.

Teddy set out his books, parchment, and writing supplies and got to work. Despite Professor Longbottom being good friends with his godfather, the man enjoyed making Teddy work for his grade. This was compounded by the fact that as Head of Hufflepuff, the Herbology professor was very strict on his students, which required Teddy to work even harder than he would in his other classes. According to his cousin Draco, Professor Longbottom was doing exactly what Professor Snape had done. Teddy gave a mental shrug. It didn't really matter to him right now _who_ the man was copying—what he had to concentrate on was finishing his homework. The library had the best collection of books, including Herbology books, and he wanted to take advantage of that. Taking one giant volume from the pile he'd collected, Teddy took a deep breath and began to work.

His head shot up a few minutes later at the sound of a familiar step. _Victoire_. Victoire Weasley. It could only be her. Upon turning around a little, just enough to get a peek from the corner of his eye, Teddy saw that he was correct and let out the smallest sigh. He and Victoire had been playmates when they were younger since they were the two oldest of the Weasley grandchildren, but now… now they were practically strangers. When Victoire had turned twelve and him fourteen, she began to avoid him. He didn't know if it was because she found him disgusting or just decided she was pretty enough to find someone else, not her "cousin". No, wait, she wasn't pretty. Pretty did not describe Victoire. She was beautiful, gorgeous. When he had said something to Harry, his godfather laughed and ruffled his hair. According to him, most of Victoire's beauty and charm came from her heritage—being one-eighth Veela. The rest of it came from Teddy being a—how did Harry put it?—hormonal teenager. But Teddy disagreed. He had always been obsessed with the girl. Ginny had shown him pictures of him following her around when they were children, saying that this crush was something left over from when they were children. Nothing changed his mind. Victoire was the only one for him and he knew it, even if she treated him as a stranger.

As the now-thirteen-year-old girl walked past his table, Teddy ducked his head behind a book. It was odd for a Ravenclaw to be here in the library, seeing as the house had its own collection of books for students in the common room. But he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Teddy wasn't a stalker and didn't stand outside the Ravenclaw dormitory or beg Victoire to go out with him like Harry's father had, but he still liked watching the girl from afar, even if she would never like him as more than her cousin and childhood friend.

To his surprise, Victoire sat down at the other end of the table and began to lay out her own homework supplies. She gave him a small smile but didn't say anything. Of course, she wouldn't;they were in the library. Madame Pince would murder anyone who would dare do such a thing. A blush spread across his face and he looked down at his work, trying to concentrate. Being a metamorphagus was very cool, and he really did like it, but when he was flustered or feeling strong emotions, like now, he could and did lose control over his hair and eye color.

They worked quietly, each engrossed in his or her studies. Every so often, one or the other would look up from the books spread around them only to turn his or her attention back to their work when their eyes met. Teddy felt his concentration begin to break and his hair color begin to change. It took everything he had to keep it at the royal blue it had been when he entered the library. Hopefully, Victoire didn't notice. Even if she treated him like a stranger, she still knew all his tells, including this one.

He ground his teeth together while pressing the tip of his quill into the parchment. If only his hair would just stay blue! Teddy snuck a quick glance at the love of his life and let out a sigh of relief. She was completely engrossed in her homework, which meant she probably hadn't seen his hair shift to his father's brown hair earlier. Suddenly the blonde looked up and their eyes met. He ducked his head immediately, but not before he felt his hair go scarlet. A giggle escaped her before she had a chance to stifle it, making it even harder for him to change his hair back. He gave himself a mental shake and concentrated, finally getting it back to normal. There.

Each of them went back to work, blue and blonde heads bent over the books spread across the table. A thought suddenly occurred to Teddy. This was the perfect opportunity! He could ask her on a date! The next Hogsmeade weekend would be in two weeks; that was plenty of time for him to plan something. Maybe she would say yes. She was laughing after all. Maybe she didn't really hate him. Maybe it was just a phase like Grandma Molly said. He nodded to himself. That was it. He would do it. He would ask Victoire to go with him.

Pulling a piece of parchment from the stack beside him, Teddy sucked on the end of his quill thoughtfully. This had to be perfect if it was going to work, but he also had to do it fast. It was his only chance. It also had to be done as a note because Madame Pince would pitch a fit if there was noise in the library.

 _Victoire,_

 _Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next time?_

 _\- Teddy_

He scribbled out his name. No, he couldn't sign it as 'Teddy'. That made him sound like a child. But Edward sounded a little too formal for this. Maybe Ted would work better? Yes, Ted definitely sounded a lot more mature. He quickly copied over the letter onto a new, clean piece of parchment and folded it into quarters. Before he could lose his nerve, he slid it over to Victoire and bent his head back down to his books. He watched from beneath nearly closed eyes as she read the note and looked up at him. To his surprise, he saw a light pink blush spreading across her face. Did that mean she wanted to do it? She lifted her eagle feather quill and dipped it into the ink carefully, tapping it against the edge of the inkwell to shake off the excess ink. The slow pace was killing him. He looked on with anticipation as she began to write in her perfect cursive. As she continued writing long past the point of a simple yes or no, his heart began to fall. Maybe she really didn't want to go out. Maybe she did think of him as her big brother. Maybe—

His thoughts were interrupted as she pushed the piece of paper back to him. He opened it with shaky fingers, nervous to read the contents.

 _Teddy,_

 _I would love to go to Hogsmeade. How does meeting at ten in the Great Hall sound?_

 _Looking forward,_

 _Victoire_

A grin spread across his face. She said yes! He looked up and met her eyes. The blonde smiled back, then went back to her work. It was then that it really hit him: he was going on a date with Victoire Weasley. That meant… that meant he really had to impress her. He'd never had to do that for a girl before. This was going to take planning, a lot of planning. He pulled out a new roll of parchment and began to write. The best person he could ask was Draco. He would know what to do.

This date was going to be perfect.


End file.
